Author: Noelle McNab

meeting god on the road

“These days, I meet God on the road with my running shoes on.” I wrote those words in September of 2020 during the chaos of COVID. In the midst of one of the most confusing and overwhelming seasons I’ve faced, I decided to cope by training for a marathon. The training regime I followed was highly structured and required me to work out 6 days a week for 17 weeks. Those weeks of training were some of the hardest, but also most grounding, weeks of my entire year. So much… Continue reading meeting god on the road

lament and the heart of Christmas

“O come o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…” This song has been my mother’s favorite Christmas carol for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure if it became mine just because of that or if somewhere along the way my soul also connected to it. It’s so lovely, but also (when sung with a deep yearning that matches the lyrics) so different than other bright and cheery carols we hear more often during this season. It reminds me that advent and waiting is such a key part… Continue reading lament and the heart of Christmas

celebrating the little moments

This May will mark five years since I began my counseling work here at The Barnabas Center. As I think about this upcoming anniversary, I am reminded of the somewhat silly way I chose to mark my first year. In honor of the occasion, I shared the following list with my colleagues during a staff meeting: First Year Stats • Used up 2 full Bic pens • Read 9 work-related books • Attended 47 weekly staff meetings • Wrote 51-ish pages of book, Bible, and personal reflections • Drank somewhere… Continue reading celebrating the little moments

unavoidable divides

Noelle joined the Barnabas Center in May of 2018. She has a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Berry College in Rome, GA and a Masters of Science in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Previously she has worked with college age individuals and adults dealing with anxiety, depression, self-harm, identity issues, relationship concerns, and challenges related to life transitions. She is passionate about walking with individuals as they face the struggles of life and the questions that come from living in a broken world.

hard to get

Silhouette off Human reaching hand with palm ups on sunrise background, Crucifix, Symbol of Faith, Faith concept:

“I can’t see how you’re leading me, unless you’ve led me here To where I’m lost enough to let myself be led And you said you’ve been here all along I guess it’s just your ways and you are just plain hard to get” —Hard to Get by Rich Mullins Rich wrote those words shortly before he died in 1998. He never got to see them formally recorded or released to the world. While he didn’t know about Coronavirus or the war in Iraq or the economic troubles in 2008,… Continue reading hard to get

defining moments: an invitation to surgery

  It was the fall of 2017 when I first heard the words “brain tumor” applied to me.  I was standing in someone else’s driveway when I got the call.  I still remember the feel of the gravel under my feet, my ears straining to hear and comprehend the words my soft-spoken endocrinologist was saying, my brain rebelling against the idea that it could be the host of such a vile thing.  I slowly began to understand that my recent MRI had revealed that I had a tumor about a… Continue reading defining moments: an invitation to surgery